On Wednesday, Steamtown awarded a $148,600 contract to the Strasburg Rail Road to build a brand new firebox for the big Lima-built Pacific. On Thursday, the locomotive’s cab, which was recently restored by a contractor in the Scranton area, is expected to return to the park and will be on display this weekend during the annual Railfest celebration.
Robert John Davis, a volunteer with Project 3713, the non-profit group raising money to restore the locomotive, said getting the firebox contracted is a major step forward for the restoration that has been slowly progressing since the 1990s. “It’s a big deal,” he says. “We’re on a roll now.”
Park Service officials say the locomotive needs about $1.5 million to run; half of that money will come from the federal government and the other half will be raised by Project 3713. Davis says in the last two years, the group has raised about $350,000. The money for the firebox, which is expected to be completed by August 2019, is coming from the National Park Service.
Project Manager Bruce Mowbray tells Trains News Wire that a lot of work still needs to be done, but now that Baldwin Locomotive Works No. 26 is running again, his team can redouble its efforts on the B&M locomotive. Work is also needed on the running gear, the locomotive and tender frames, the stoker system, lead and trailing trucks, and more. Steamtown is also looking at installing Positive Train Control on the locomotive.
Mowbray says when the locomotive will run again depends entirely on funding and manpower. However, everyone is optimistic that the locomotive will run in the coming years.
“It’s exciting,” he says. “When it rolls out of the shops, It will be a locomotive that all Americans will be proud of.”
